Several injured, detained as Police foils protest marches by teachers

TJEC, JKRETTF observe Teachers Day as black day
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Sept 5: On the occasion of Teachers’ Day, protesting Teachers and Masters under SSA/RMSA took out massive protest rallies in both the capital cities of the State thus inviting Police action, which led to minor injuries to some protesters and temporary detention of them.
The protesters, who observed Teachers’ Day as black day, were demanding implementation of 7th Pay Commission in favour of the SSA/RMSA Teachers and Masters besides de-linking their salary from the central source of funding.Click here to watch video
At Jammu, the protesting teachers under the banner of Teachers Joint Action Committee, attempted to march towards the Governor’s House while in Srinagar, the Jammu Kashmir Rehbar-e-Taalim Teachers Forum (JKRETTF) tried to take out a protest march from Sher-e-Kashmir Park to SKICC where the main official function in connection with the Teachers’ Day was being held.
At Jammu, a large number of Teachers and Masters assembled near Press Club Jammu, under the banner of Teachers’ Joint Action Committee (TJAC), which is an amalgam of J&K ReT Teachers Forum J&K Teachers Forum, J&K SSA Teachers Forum etc.
Amidst raising of slogans in support of their demands, they held a strong protest demonstration under the leadership of State president JKRTTF, Vinod Sharma, State general secretary JKTF Ganesh Khajuria, State vice president JKRTTF Gulzabir Daing and others, who also addressed the gathering.
Later, the protesting teachers marched towards Governor House through Gummat Bazaar where strong contingent of Police stopped them from proceeding further. To foil the protest march, Police also used mild baton charge resulting into minor injuries to some of protesting teachers. In the melee, some of the protesting teachers were fainted and it took more than one hour for Police to disperse the agitators, whose number was in hundreds.
At Srinagar, hundreds of Teachers and Masters assembled at Sher-e-Kashmir Park under the banner of JKRETTF, led by it chairman Farooq Ahmad Tantray and vice-chairman Bhupinder Singh.
The protesting teachers wore black dresses and shouted slogans against the alleged callous attitude of the Government towards the teachers.
The protesters later tried to march towards SKICC where official function in connection with Teacher’s Day was being celebrated. However, the heavy contingent of police foiled the march and resorted to cane-charging. Police also used water canons to disperse the protesting teachers and detained a number of them.
Reports from Leh said that Teacher and Masters working under SSA/RMSA also observed Teachers Day as black day and held a strong protest demonstration in support of their demand of 7th Pay Commission benefits as well as delinking their salary from the Central source of funding.
The protest demonstration was organized under the banner of All Ladakh Teachers Association (ALTA) Leh. Wearing black badges, the protesting teachers, led by ALTA president Dorjay Namgyal, held demonstration in front of the office of DEO Leh and later marched to the Council office where a memorandum was submitted.